How I changed my life in 100 days.

100 days challenge complete!! 3.8 lbs down, 0.4% less body fat.

4 months ago, I was having 6–7 cups of Cuban coffee (think double espresso) every single day.

I was jittery, over-caffeinated, couldn’t sleep well at night and that made me really tired the next day, so I had to drink more coffee in order to function. Or so I thought.

In two words: It sucked.

So, I decided to challenge myself to 100 days without sugar or caffeine. Yes. That meant no coffee, no tea, no energy drinks, no soft drinks and no desserts. I had heard many times that you CAN do absolutely ANYTHING for 10 days, and now I know it is true. However, 10 days wasn’t really going to do anything for me if I went back to coffee afterwards. It’s also known that in average it takes 66 days to create or break a habit, so I knew that at the very least, I had to go 66 days on my challenge. But 66 is not a pretty number, so I inverted it and had 99 days instead. But if I was going to make it to 99 days, why not 100? that would be way cooler.

The first week was awful, going through withdrawal sucked. I had really bad headaches, couldn’t really focus at work, was still jittery without the caffeine, etc. BUT, the best way to remove a bad habit is to do something else when you feel the urge to go back to it. So, whenever I wanted to drink coffee, I drank natural, unsweetened tomato and vegetable juice instead (which I didn’t like at all but it was definitely better than any other drinks)

After the second week things started get a little better. I no longer had headaches and that was a huge step forward. This really made me feel strong empathy and sympathy for those people who suffer chronic headaches.

During the first month and a half I still felt that impulse to get up and get my caffeine fix. But I had set myself a goal and was determined to not give in. Eventually, those urges started to grow further and further apart, until one day in month two I realized that I went to the kitchen, not because I wanted coffee, but because I WANTED my tomato juice :)

Giving up on sugar/desserts was hard too, but not as hard as the coffee. Though there are more temptations and there’s definitely more social pressure and guilt. It’s easier to say NO to a cup of coffee when offered, than to say NO to a piece of cake on your friend’s birthday. There is always at least 2 or 3 people that will tell you: “just do it today”, “one exception is not going to make a difference you can go back to diet tomorrow”, etc. That might or might not be true. However, if I had accepted it would have broken my streak of success and pride, and all the progress I had made so far. I had to say NO to dessert at any events I went to. And, to be fair and just, last week was my own birthday and even though I did blow up candles and made a wish, I did NOT have a piece of cake. I just saved a piece and will be eating it later today as a celebration for keeping my goals, and for 100 days of strong will.

So, in summary, I no longer crave coffee or sugar, but there’s definitely much more than just that.

I feel more energized, more focused and productive at work, I no longer have headaches or jitters (which were pretty common when I drank coffee). I definitely sleep much better. This alone made all of it worth it.

There was another side benefit that I didn’t predict or notice right away. With every cup of coffee, I had cream and sugar, so I ended up adding up unnecessary calories and spoons full of sugar.

The result? With pretty much the same physical activity, exercise and diet, by eliminating my coffee habit, I ended up losing 3.8 pounds and lowered my body fat by 0.4%.

This experiment, showed me that you can do absolutely anything for 100 days, and if you stick to your decision you will slowly begin to see results, and you won’t want to stop after the 100 days. In my case I don’t think I will ever go back to coffee, and will have dessert only in special occasions.

I’m sharing this because I feel that there are many people out there that just like me just needed to make a simple decision and start a domino effect in their lives. Just by changing, removing or creating a keystone habit, you will see many expected and unexpected positive changes in your life.

I am planning to start another 100 days challenge for personal fitness. I am curious to see what can I achieve if I set myself to have better nutrition and exercise habits for 100 days.

If you want to join me I’ll be thrilled. Accountability and a great peer support makes it much easier to not give up when you are just about to break through your own limitations. If you’d like to join me on my next challenge, please drop me a note, otherwise stay tuned as I will give periodic updates on how I am doing and what progress I am making. Also, if you feel this personal story can inspire other people, please share!